Surviving Shadows
by AstonSilver
Summary: Considering everything, Dark seems to believe he could've done a lot worse things than to 'kidnap' a young boy who was so obviously neglected, perhaps abused. *Rated for language in later chapters*
1. Chapter 1

**Hi, guys. Sky here.**

 **I guess I'm just writing this author's note to let you guys know, before you try and read the story, that this is going to be the first story involving the Legend of Zelda I have ever written. I'm excited, and at the same time terrified. As such, I feel I should warn you that it might not be as up to par as it sould technically be. I am relatively new to the LoZ fandom - I only really joined last year when I finally settled enough to actively play the games, and after much thought, I decided I wanted something different to write instead of the typical stories I have written before.**

 **This is in no way going to be canon - for either the LoZ fandom nor the Harry Potter fandom.**

 **But as it stands, I am excited to share this story here with you guys, and I hope you enjoy.**

If at any point, you asked the shadow being how he'd come to the muggle and wizarding worlds, he wouldn't have an answer. Because in all honesty, he didn't know how he'd gotten there.

Still, he was much too proud to admit he was at a loss and continued on as he would any other time. He was quick about finding a way to maintain himself in this new world, his self preservation keeping him moving depite not truly knowing how to go about any of it.

It didn't take him long to have a place to stay, a home in a way, and a way to keep himself up. In fact, he managed all of it within a few weeks, surprisingly fast in his opinion. He had much to learn about the world he'd found himself in, but he didn't offer himself a way to learn in a way that would leave him open for attack - choosing to live somewhere away from the large neighborhoods.

Of course, he still explored much of the area around his home - including these neighborhoods during the downtime he had.

And though he prided himself on not caring much for the affairs of the people who resided there, one situation struck him as completely and utterly not okay every time he found himself in the neighborhood.

Number 4, Privet Drive, projected the image of perfect normality. That's what struck the shadow being. It was only a projected image. Something felt...wrong about the entire situation surrounding the home and it's inhabitants.

Every so often, he'd see a small boy working in the garden outside the home. While the neighbors seemed to find this normal, claiming the boy enjoyed working with the flowers, it was obvious that it was certainly not the case.

The child was much to thin, too small, and timid in a way that Dark had never seen before.

He didn't immediately intervene. It wasn't his job, after all, and his main concern was finding a way to remain lowkey and still survive. So he watched. Every time he happened across this neighborhood, he observed the inhabitants of Number 4.

As such, he found himself playing witness to horrid things even he'd never do.

Every so often, he'd notice that the boy would see him and his eyes would shift to an almost pleading look. But every time thus far, he'd turned and walked a way, a sinking feeling in his gut that said he needed to find a way to help. It was a new feeling to him, wanting to do a good deed just for the sake of doing it, perhaps to save a child he held no ties to.

Over the course of the next month, though, Dark found himself yearning to help the child more and more as time passed. When he realized no one else noticed what was happening in the home, he gave himself the permission he needed to take matters into his own hands.

As such, he entered the neighborhood once more, his sword in it's sheath on his back and his steps determined. It being a holiday break, many of the families were gone away to celebrate and spend time, Dark noted. With a certain mirthless glee, he realized this included the other three inhabitants of Number 4. The child was sitting out in the garden again, which made his job much easier.

The shade sighed before he approached the child, sitting on the ground close by. "Hello," he greeted, his voice devoid of emotion or warmth, but in no way promising any sort of harm.

The boy only snapped his gaze to Dark. "Hi," he replied quietly, timidly after a moment.

"What's your name, kid?"

This caused a reaction that Dark was pleased with - the small raven haired boy bristled and gave him an unamused glare. "Harry," he said after examining the stranger for a moment. "Who are you,"

Dark smirked at him. "Just call me Dark. Now, how about we get your belongings and get you out of here?"

This startled the boy back into his timidness. But he agreed, which surprised Dark, seeing as he'd noticed the boy eyeing his sword distrustfully.

It didn't take long for Harry to settle down in his new environment. Dark noted that he stayed distant from him. He developed a normal schedule for eating and sleep, which was nice, but he didn't speak much, not unless spoken to or he needed something direly.

Out of everything he'd expected, taking in an eight year old who was so strangely okay on his own was not something he'd thought would happen. But now that it had happened, Dark found himself being content in the situation.

 _Maybe soon,_ Dark thought one day as he watched Harry examine the sword the shade was so proud of, _I'll have him trusting me enough to allow me to teach him to use a sword. He may well benefit from the knowledge._

 **So yes...there's this. I hope to do a regular updating schedule for this. But that may not be possible.**

 **If you have any suggestions for this, let me know.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi, guys.**  
 **I'm actually rather surprised at how decently this story is being seen as. It surpasses several of my other stories despite being so relatively new.**  
 **And in all honesty, I rather enjoy writing it. I don't know why, I suppose it's just...a change of pace sort of deal and it feels nice to write something different for a change.**  
 **With that being said, I should also say this - there's going to be a lot of time covered in a short way. I don't feel it's completely important to the overall idea of the story to cover every small detail up to Hogwarts.**  
 **Review Responses:**  
 **Kira Akuma: I'm glad you seem to enjoy it!**

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There were times that Dark found himself being caught off guard with how time seemed to flow. But it had never been this bad before. Now, Dark found himself startled with how fast time had passed since he'd taken Harry into his home.  
Now that they were looking at the boy's eleventh birthday, Dark couldn't help but feel as if he hadn't taught him enough for his age. Looking back at his own life, he'd been trained much better by Harry's age.  
But at the same time, Dark felt proud of how Harry had turned out. Even after all the boy had gone through with his relatives, he seemed perfectly content. He didn't trust too easily, part of that coming from how he had been treated at the Dursley's, and part of it was from living with Dark and being taught that not everything was as it first seemed.  
The previous year, Dark had started training Harry with a sword, and the two years previous were spent teaching him basic survival skills that Dark couldn't imagine anyone not knowing and still living.  
Harry, through his years with Dark, had experienced a lot of animosity in the nearby neighborhoods due to his attitude which had slowly shifted from timid and unsure to being coldly calculating and someone who seemed comfortable no matter the situation thrown at him.  
Many of the children he'd come across really didn't like him - they were all overly childish and whiny, and he wasn't afraid of pointing out their flaws should they anger him. Their parents didn't like him much more, claiming he was arrogant because they didn't want to see how horrid their children could be at any given moment.  
But through everything, Dark was always surprised by just how much his young ward observed when it came to himself. He had never grown used to the child randomly asking about something that Dark himself wasn't sure he knew.  
All in all, it had been an interesting few years.  
But this? This was the most interesting thing to happen since the first bout of what Dark was sure was magic. He'd yet to begin teaching on the subject in any way, and it seemed to him that if the teachers at the school that had sent his ward a letter were half decent that he wouldn't have to fight to introduce this new topic himself, since he wasn't exactly the most informed on the subject.  
Harry, for what it was worth, was definitely taking on a questioning approach to the entire thing the day a professor showed up to explain everything. The lady who arrived seemed stern, Dark noted as she sat stiffly in their living area.  
It became obvious that Harry felt it a waste to trust her, and Dark was amused at the cool tone in his wards voice as he asked questions.  
For what it was worth, McGonagall answered the questions without hesitation or a moment's consideration aloud of the tone in which she was addressed.  
Dark felt, that if even one other teacher at Hogwarts was like this, it should be safe enough. He had no interest himself in questioning. Harry being content and agreeing to go was enough for him, because he knew he was easier to win than the child was.

And so, when the first of September arrived, Dark accompanied his ward to the Platform to see him off and spoke lowly as he examined some of the other families. "You know the drill, my Shadow. I expect you to write to me, especially if you need something, no matter if you feel it's an imposition." he said, his tone venturing on amused as he saw the eleven year old roll his emerald eyes. "Be careful who you become friends with. Not that I don't have faith that you'll find wonderful friends, I just don't wish to see you hurt by them."  
"Of course," Harry said, but his voice shook, betraying his nerves.  
Dark smiled faintly. While he got a bit more formal when his nerves acted up like this, his ward always acted as if he wasn't affected but it showed through his speech. He helped Harry get his things on the train before ruffling the dark locks that fell in a mess to rest over his ward's eyes slightly. Once that was done, he sighed. "Be careful,"  
This got a nod from the boy. "I'll write to inform you of my sorting," he promised, giving his adoptive father a hug before disappearing to find a compartment.  
Dark took this as the final farewell and stepped back with a resigned wave before he disappeared back to his home.

Harry watched as he disappeared from a compartment window, settling down soon after and contenting himself to watching the other families interact on the platform.  
And as the train started moving, he felt his thoughts drift to his home for the last few years. It would be a long year, without a doubt.

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 **I almost feel as if this chapter didn't turn like I wanted it to. I guess it didn't. I was sort of distracted while writing it, but I hope it didn't turn out too terrible.**  
 **I'll see you guys next time.**  
 **-Sky**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi, guys.  
I meant to get an update written and posted before Christmas. But, as it happened, holidays got in my way between family traditions and my friends and me hanging out more often.  
So this is late, I'm sorry.  
Review responses:  
Kira Akuma: Thanks! And I do plan on changing it quite a bit from canon. I don't know about completely, but it'll be different.  
Zekrom1010101010: Thanks  
Gojira Geek: I might. I haven't actually planned it out that far, but I'm considering it for sure.  
grandshadowseal: I completely agree that there's too few Harry Potter crossovers with Dark. He's such an interesting character, so it seems such a shame to me. As for who Harry will be friends with, it'll become slowly more obvious starting as of this chapter. With Dark, usually if he's out wandering, he has his hair pulled over his ears so they aren't so glaringly obvious and due to the hue of red, I'd assume that most muggles would assume them to be brown. However, it might also be that he's covered by the same magic that most of the magical community is and it just isn't noticed and thought of as odd unless the other person is in the know of the magical world. Both are pretty decent theories.  
Enjoy.  
**

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 ****The train ride was quiet for a while for Harry, who watched outside the window as scenery went by in a blur. He only ever glanced away when he heard someone stop to talk.

Admittedly, he didn't do much talking with them, mostly just offering short replies and watching them, trying to pick out small bits about them as he did. He normally wouldn't bother, but these were the people he would be around for the next seven years, which gave him more than enough reason to observe them passively like he was.

By the time that they arrived, Harry had found a few people who he felt would be decent friends, and then some who he'd rather avoid at all costs whenever possible.

However, he kept to himself as they headed towards the school, contenting himself with awing over the view of the castle from the lake. Dark had told him that several places using magic would look rather wonderful, and while he had doubted him, he could see why he'd said so.

Still, as they were led into the castle, he kept his expression carefully blank, talking quietly with a few of the people around him out of nerves. He wasn't sure what to expect, but he figured it wouldn't hurt to be prepared for anything.

Needless to say, when he found out they just had to put on a hat that would sort them, he was disappointed. He'd relaxed, sure, but he'd also rolled his eyes at the sheer innocence of the entire act, as if they weren't learning to kill should need come to it.

He watched, half-interested, as others were sorted. Admittedly, he was still slightly nervous about the sorting.

Once it came his turn to be sorted, he immediately focused ahead of him, blocking out the whispers that hadn't been there for anyone else.

Throughout the entire time, he kept himself carefully guarded to those watching.

Still, a small amount of surprise was evident on his face when the Hat declared him a Slytherin. He made his way towards the designated table without much fanfare, continuing to watch the sorting absently as he thought.

He didn't show any interest as the Headmaster spoke - he'd listened for a moment before turning his eyes away and blocking it out. It got a few curious looks from his housemates.

Once the feast started, a few of them spoke to him. He glanced up at them as they spoke, eyes cold and guarded, but he answered some of them.

If he were to be honest, as of right then, the only one he didn't feel like was faking who they were was Blaise. He was careful not to let anyone know too much about him, and did his best to learn about those around him carefully, taking mental note of which ones he needed to be more careful around.

Needless to say, when they made it to their dorms, Harry was slightly exhausted. He still hadn't gotten used to being so guarded, and he definitely wasn't used to having to deal with such a large crowd of people at one time.

Before he got ready for bed, he sat down and wrote a quick letter to Dark to send the following morning, keeping true to his word to let him know where he'd ended up in Hogwarts.

As he finally settled down for bed that night, he let a small smile show. Though he knew he'd wind up homesick eventually, he couldn't see being here as a bad thing. After all, it would give him experience for later on in life, and he felt like he could set his own pace a bit more in his studies than when he was with Dark. **  
**

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 **Sorry it was so short, and that it took so long.  
Happy New Year!  
-Sky**


End file.
